Under the surface
by Stormvind
Summary: Will be MA. Ch 5 is up! What is happening with Max and will Alec help her before its to late?
1. Ch 1

Under the surface  
  
Summary: We all have things hidden under the surface, is Max's loosing her grip of her darker sides?  
  
Pairing: Will be M/A later on.  
  
Disclaimer: Alec is mine, don't anyone dare touching him!! Okay, my shrink says I should be honest, they aint mine. But you knew that, didn't you? *cough* besserwisser  
  
AN: Fanfiction is new for me so I'm in a desperate need of criticism. Think it sucked? C'mon, tell me!!  
  
Chapter One  
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The nomaly was almost human looking. Thin and tall but with a little to thick skin with an almost green shade. Its eyes were red and stirring, very unfocused. 'Probably a X3 with to much snake DNA' Eight year old X5-452, also known as Max guessed.  
  
She stood with her unit, facing Lydecker and the nomaly. Their backs were straight, their heads high and their feet exactly 12 inches apart.  
  
"Run" the Colonel whispered to the frightened creature.  
  
Max's eyes met Ben's for a second as they watched the nomalys back disappear into the wood. Their eyes talked the same, soundless language. They were made to do this, and they knew it.  
  
"Go!" Lydecker ordered and watched his kids follow the creature. "Make me proud..."  
  
Ben and Max moved in perfect, synchronized moves, some meters above the others. Zack might be their leader but he also knew when to fall back. This was the game of Max and Ben.  
  
Adrenaline rushed through her veins and she felt like flying. They caught up with the nomaly fast. Their circled around it, teased it, watched its panic with interest. Their circles grew smaller, and they began to beat it slightly. They didn't kick or punch hard enough to make any real damage but hard enough to hurt. Max and Ben danced with each other, their eyes sharing the same, wild glint.  
  
Max knew it was scared, she could smell it. She threw her head back as a load animalistic sound escaped her throat, a growl. The fear vibrated in the air and she opened her mouth and her tongue flew out to taste it, taste the panic...  
  
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Max snapped up into a sitting position in her bed. Her heart beat fast, her pulse were high and the adrenaline flowed in her body. Her tongue was still halfway out of her mouth. Do you know what fear tastes like? Max knew. Fear tastes sweet but with a bitter edge, exciting and arousing.  
  
'No! Not again' she thought in panic. The dream had followed her the last week. She usually didn't sleep much and the dreams made her avoid it even more but last night Alec had almost forced her to get some sleep.  
  
She went to her small bathroom and washed her face in the cold water. Her pulse were still higher than normal. She didn't want to dream, she didn't want to be reminded! She caught a glint of her face in the mirror over the washbowl. And in her eyes... in her eyes she saw a flicker of something, a memory, a long time ago, but never forgotten. His eyes, her eyes... 'No!'  
  
She punched the mirror, sending splinter of glass all over the bathroom. Her hand started bleeding but she didn't notice. 'No, no, no! I am not like him'  
  
AN: Sucked? Want more? Review! 


	2. Ch 2

Ch 2 Under the surface  
  
AN: Thanks for the reviews, I love you! Please, keep review-ing since I really need criticism. And also thanks to Danielle, for helping me and wasting her time on this fic (  
  
Alec's apartment wasn't really an apartment. It as more of a closet, but living in closets was common for the transgenics of Freak Nation. And it wasn't rare with walls thin as paper either. Alec's walls in combination with his engineered hearing made him able to hear the nightly activities of the X-6 couple in the apartment under him, the restless movement of Max and the other X's with shark DNA and the screams of fear from the sleeping soldiers, still hunted by the ghost of Manticore.  
  
It was because of the un-soundproof walls Alec heard the animalistic growl perfectly well. It came from the apartment over Alec's, the apartment of Max. His instincts told him to go to Max and check if she was alright but his sense yelled in protest. She would probably tell him to fuck off and then kick his ass for disturbing her. He sighed and shut his eyes again, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sleep.  
  
The sound of shattered glass some minutes later definitely changed his mind. He dressed quickly and went to see Max. He had to check and see if she was all right even if she refused to talk to him.  
  
Alec entered Max's apartment just in time to see her pick up a glass and throw it at the wall with full X-5 force. It shattered in a million pieces, covering her floor.  
  
He was surprised when he realised that she hadn't noticed him yet. 'Wow' he thought 'She has to be really upset to let me sneak up on her like that'  
  
"Hmmm... Max?"  
  
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She snapped around when she heard somebody speak her name, facing the face of her nightmare. 'No, its enough, I cant take this anymore...' But somewhere in the very back of her mind, a memory wanted her attention. A memory about another time when she had made the same mistake. Her eyes widened when she understood. It wasn't Ben, it was... 'Alec! What the fuck is HE doing here?!'  
  
"Alec!! What the fuck are you doing here?!" she yelled angrily what she had just thought.  
  
"I came here to check you, to see if you were ok, obviously, you're not." His voice was totally without the usual sarcastic tone; it was full of concern.  
  
She hissed furiously. 'How dared he...?!' How dare he hunting her dreams, how dare he expect her to talk calmly to the face she hunted with, a long time ago. 'A long time ago, but still so close...' What the fuck was she doing? She couldn't freak out were Alec could see her! She slammed her emotionless facade back into place.  
  
"I'm perfectly fine, thank you!" Max bit back.  
  
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'Yeah, here it comes... Perfectly fine, my ass' He was more worried about her than he wanted to admit. He had recognized that wild, desperate glint in her eyes when she threw the glass.  
  
It was the eyes of an animal, of a hunter. Deep inside, that animal also lived in Alec. But this was Max, his Max. The first thing he noticed with Max was her fire. It lived inside her, strong enough to burn her and everybody around her but it was still that fire that kept her alive. If she hid the animal, the fire, the beast behind that well practised mask, it would kill her, it would take control over her.  
  
He didn't know what to do, he felt helpless. How do you help somebody that keeps pushing you away? How do you help somebody who refuses to talk to you?  
  
"Max, please, don't do this..."  
  
But she just looked at him with those big, brown, completely emotionless eyes.  
  
"Fuck off Alec" Her voice also cold and calm.  
  
'Renfro would had been proud' he thought with a smirk totally without humour.  
  
And he left, even though his instincts kept telling him to stay, to hold her, to be there for her. He left.  
  
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Max had spent the night jumping and blurring on the roofs of TC, trying to get rid of all that burning energy inside her. She felt restless, unfocused. She hadn't slept for nearly a week, except for that short hellish nap.  
  
She stumbled into the morning meeting half an hour too late.  
  
"Oh, look what the cat dragged in" Mole said with a smirk. He sat comfortably in HER chair with his rifle and his usual cigar.  
  
"Get up Mole, that's my chair." She said calmly even if her temper burned inside. 'MY chair!' she thought.  
  
Mole missed the dangerous glint in her eyes and stayed in the chair, still smirking.  
  
"Woke up on the wrong side today, did we?"  
  
Patience wasn't Max's thing and something took over her rational thinking. She had enough. Before she really realised what she did she had Mole pinned to the wall, by her hand on his throat.  
  
Mole didn't even saw her move, he just found himself smashed painfully to the wall by a furious X-5. The X-5 that just happened to be his leader.  
  
"What did you say?" She shouted angrily. "WHAT?!"  
  
"...." He couldn't breath, damn it!  
  
"I AM your fucking leader!! You WILL respect me! Understood?!" She didn't know why she reacted like this, but somehow, his little comment made her lose control.  
  
"Yes, understood" Mole managed to say. He felt the grip on his throat come loose and he sank to the floor, rubbing it.  
  
Max was already out of the door again.  
  
AN: How was that? Tell me!! 


	3. Ch 3

Ch 3  
  
AN: I had a writers block and couldn't continue this. I'm sorry if this is a little lame. Thanks to Danielle and everybody who reviewed! And a special thanks to Fayth for the updating of 'Moving Ahead' Great job! And btw, I don't own, anything. Blabla.  
  
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"Fucking BITCH!" Mole moaned in pain, rubbing his throat.  
  
Once again, he found himself pinned to the wall. This time it was even more painful since this X-5 lifted him by his neck and slammed him to the wall, over and over again.  
  
"Don't ever, ever call her that." Alec's voice was cold and sent shivers down the other transgenics necks.  
  
Alec was out of the door before Mole hit the floor again.  
  
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Max blurred down the streets of TC. She didn't know why, she didn't know what she was doing or why she had reacted like that in HQ but one thing she knew. She was caught. All she could see was walls and fences. Whatever direction she turned the fences blocked her way.  
  
Like another cage, a long time ago. Lost, destroyed but never forgotten.  
  
Like she had done twice in the past, like she had escaped Manticore not once but twice, she leapt over the fence in one swift jump.  
  
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Alec was barely out of HQ when he ran into a blurring body. When he had calmed down enough he recognized a young X6 female, probably about 15 years old. She looked panicked.  
  
"Sir! Sir, she... she... I couldn't..." She gasped for air. "Solider! Get a grip of yourself!" said Alec with his best commander voice. It worked; the X6 took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together.  
  
"Sir! On 452's order I was positioned as a guard of the west flank of Terminal City when 452 herself came blurring down the street and jumped the fence sir! She took out, probably killed the sector police on the other side sir!" she saluted.  
  
"What the hell... no!" Alec suddenly realized what Max was about to do. 'Oh my god... No!'  
  
She was leaving TC and she could get herself killed! The streets were full of anti-mutants crowds and Max's face had been all over the news.  
  
"Tell Mole and Dix they are in charge for a while."  
  
The kid saluted again, trained not to question orders.  
  
It was only one thought in Alec's mind. 'I have to find her'  
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When Alec climbed out of the sewers, out of the secret passage to TC Max was sitting in a stolen car, heading out of Seattle. She still didn't know what the hell she was doing. When she had jumped over the fence and killed the police the realization of her actions finally hit her with full force. It also brought one thought to her mind 'Out of Seattle. Now!'  
  
She drove the black cab she had picked up on the street past the sign with the words 'You are now leaving Seattle'  
  
'What the hell am I doing?'  
________________________ The Head Quarters were almost empty cause nobody wanted to be around Mole when he came out from the condition of shock he was in and suddenly realized what had happened.  
  
Unfortunately for the reporting X6, that was exactly what was about to happen.  
  
"Somebody gonna FUCKING DIE for this!" he yelled.  
  
The X6 knocked on the door.  
  
"I suppose it will be you!" Mole opened the door and punched the female soldier over her left eye, knocking her out completely.  
  
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'Where would Maxie go if she was scared, confused and angry?' Alec thought. Joshua's old place where Logan now lived? Not a chance in the world, Max wasn't too happy with Logan at all. The apartment she had shared with OC? No, Max wouldn't risk OC's safety. The space needle? Maybe.  
  
But somehow, maybe it was the weird connection between him and Max, he knew she wasn't going to the Needle.  
  
No, Max was leaving Seattle. 


	4. Ch 4

Ch 4.  
  
AN: Finally I did get my hand out of my ass and wrote this chapter. Thanks to Mrs Ackles for beta-ing, you rock hon!  
  
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Max drove the black cab on the way from Seattle to some shitty little city called Tacoma. At least that's what the sign said. She was stuck behind a big truck that wobbled dangerously on the road. 'Drunk driver' Max thought annoyed.  
  
Without any warning, the driver of the truck hit the brakes and skidded over the road, effectively blocking her way.  
  
Crash!!  
  
Not even her transgenic reflexes were fast enough; the black car hit the truck in more than 120 km/h. Max didn't wear her seat belt and flied through the windscreen.  
  
Pain exploded in her body as she hit the ground and everything went black.  
  
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Alec was heading in the direction of some place called Tacoma when a though hit him. Max's cell phone! She usually carried the cell he stole for her with her all the times. If she was leaving Seattle, the chance that she would answer him was small but it was still worth a shot.  
  
He picked up his own phone and dialled Max's number. After some signals, somebody answered.  
  
"Max?"  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
'What the hell?' Alec thought. Whoever that was, it wasn't Max. He started to get very worried.  
  
"Who the hell are you?!"  
  
"Excuse me mister. Do you know a young dark haired girl?"  
  
"What? Of course I do!"  
  
"I'm afraid your girlfriend had an accident. A car crash."  
  
'Oh my god, no! NO!! This is not happening.' Alec panicked.  
  
"Is she... Is she alive?"  
  
"Yes, she is... but..."  
  
"Where is she?!"  
  
"Some miles from Seattle, on the road to Tacoma. But... No, miss! Don't move! Oh no, miss... Don't..."  
  
A shot was heard through the phone, a gasp from the man on the other side and the sound of a body hitting the ground.  
  
A shot.  
  
It could mean everything. Max had a gun, she had finally accepted that they were in a war and a gun could make the difference between victory and loss, life and death. She had a gun, but didn't like to use it.  
  
A shot. It could also be somebody else. It could be White.  
  
Alec threw his cell out of the window of the car and pushed down the accelerator pedal. He wished he had stolen a faster car then the red Renault he sat in.  
  
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Max dragged her through the thick wood, instinctively seeking highs, mountains, rocks and caves. Her instincts told her to hide herself, to heal or die, as her ancestors, the big cats did.  
  
She stumbled again and had to grab a tree to keep herself standing. She was loosing a lot of blood but she didn't have the energy to do something about it, or not to leave any clues.  
  
When she woke up on the cold ground beside the highway, she panicked. Two cops and a car were standing beside her. Cops meant danger, cages, handcuffs. Cages, cages, cages...  
  
Far away she, with her engineered hearing, could also hear the sirens of an ambulance. Ambulance meant hospital. Max's second trip to Manticore had given her a deep fear of hospitals.  
  
//That's strong isn't it? A heart of a soldier, a leader, a martyr...// Renfro's cold voice echoed through her brain.  
  
'NO!' She wouldn't follow them to straps, white coats, to pain and sorrow.  
  
But what could she do? She was lying on the ground, pain flowing over her and she did her best to ignore it. She couldn't fight them... or could she?  
  
Something hard was poking her waist, hard and cold. Her glock. The weapon Mole had convinced her to accept. She didn't like guns, she never had but now it was probably her only chance.  
  
With a shivering hand, she lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. When the polices hit the ground, the fled into the wood, depending on her instincts to keep her alive.  
  
An hour and a half after the crash, she finally found a cave, a hole in the rock. The darkness threatened to take over when she crawled into it and curled up, arms around her knees, letting the pain and tiredness take over.  
  
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Alec had to use all the control Manticore had thought him to keep the panic and the fear in check. 'Focus!' he thought as he pushed the Renault faster and faster, 120, 130, 140...  
  
'So much blood. Oh no...' He saw blood everywhere, the corpses of shot polices were covered, the ground, the crashed black car was shimmering red. 'So much blood... Max...' He swallowed a sob.  
  
Where was she? He could smell her unique scent; it was obviously her blood on the ground. Her blood... A trace of blood led him into the deep forest, it was Max's blood, colouring the green earth red. He followed her trace, smelling her. 'Smelling her...Oh my god, what happened to you Maxie?  
  
Loved it? Review!! Hated it?? Review!! Any ideas how I could make it better? Review!! 


	5. Ch 5

                                            **Under the Surface                    Ch 5         By LC**

AN: Yeah, I know. I promised that this chapter would be up weeks ago. I'm sorry, I've has a huge writers block and I've also deleted three versions of this. This is pretty far from how my original plot looked.

With special thanks to **EMI **[She made a beautiful book cover for this fic] **Fayth **[Cuz she is the best. Sorry it took so long to get this up] and **J **[Thanks for the betaing hon!]

The walls of the cave were wet and slippery. Some light from the cloudy day outside slipped in and threw ghostlike shadows over the unconscious figure, curled up in the deepest corner.  She whimpered and moaned in fear.

_Dark eyes, dark voice. So similar of her own. _

_"We should never have left. Everything made sense there"_

_The raw, hungry animal that looked through his beautiful eyes could she feel inside herself._

_She was scared but not of him. She was scared of herself._

_"Tell me a story… about the good place."_

_Her hand snapping his neck. His last breathe on her face. His soul touching her soul, saying goodbye._

_He was finally free, but she was stilled caged._

_Ben._

_Ben._

_Ben._

Max didn't dare to open her eyes. She knew somebody was behind her but she didn't want to know whom it was. She was scared. The soldier inside her screamed at her 'Get up, GET UP!' but somehow she couldn't move her body. She was hurt; she wasn't ready to face a threat. She wasn't ready to face him again.

"Max?"

The voice reminded her of one time, when another boy with the same face spoke her name in a church. Ben had sounded as lost and confused as Alec sounded now.

Alec.

Ben.

Alec.

She snapped into a fighting position.

He had searched through the woods, followed her trace, the scent of her blood. It had leaded trough the deep woods and into the mountains, the home of the cougars.

Alec was scared. He knew enough medics to know that she had lost very much blood. He wasn't used to not be able to fix everything, to have control. The woman he cared more about than the rest of the world was angry, sad, afraid or a mix of everything and he could feel her pain.

The scent of her blood grew stronger, it was fresher. It triggered his senses as it probably triggered other big cats senses. Max wasn't in a state where she could defend herself against a cougar.

When he found the cave it was a relief, but the sight that met him made his heart stop.

She looked so pale and vulnerable. 'vulnerable… never thought I would use that word about Max' He could see that she was breathing though.

"Max?"

She moaned in pain. The sound made his ears hurt and his heart too. He was about to tell her to lie down, don't move. To touch her, sooth her, say that everything was going to be ok when she snapped into a fighting position.

A human would be dead and Max was far from in a perfect shape with her blood loss and broken ribs. But Manticore's scientists had done their job well and when adrenaline started to pump into her veins she could ignore the pain.

In her confused state of mind she felt threatened. She knew she was vulnerable and she knew she wouldn't be able to last in a long fight. She would just try to end this her own way.

She attacked.

Alec saw the desperate glint in her eyes and was suddenly glad for her blood loss when she launched herself on him. Otherwise, he would have been in serious trouble now.

He blocked her attacks, not wanting to hurt her but when she tried to escape from him, saw him as a threat something broke inside him. He had fought so hard to look good in her eyes.

 Since Alec was freed from Manticore and become… well, Alec he had never cared about what anybody thought about him. Anybody but Max. She was important to him in a way he always failed to understand and when she didn't seem to recognize him, he was deeply hurt.

He blocked her last attack, swept her legs under her and before she could get up again, he pinned her down with his weight.

"Max. Please Max, look at me" He tried to keep his voice steady but it was hard when he saw the true fear in her eyes.

He had her caught.

She wasn't ready to face him, the memory still burned too much. But that time, she had beaten him.

Crazy, beautiful Ben.

And Alec had no idea.

The thought hit her like a train going at a speed of 200 km/h.

It wasn't his fault.

He didn't know.

And then she did what he last expected her to do. She started to cry. Her big, almost black eyes went shiny and tears began to fall down her cheek. Her body shivered with the sobs.

"I'm sorry Ben…"

He frowned.

"I'm not Ben."

She looked upon him with those big, teary eyes.

"I know. I'm sorry Alec."

He let go of her wrists and lifted her to hold her. She sobbed against his shoulder and he caressed her back.

"Whatever it is, it will be okay. I promise Maxie…"

Alec's brain was kind of left behind. He didn't understand what was wrong with Max but right now, she seemed to be okay. Or, maybe not okay but she seemed to be safe. The thought calmed him down until he noticed that he had Max's blood on his shirt and that she was still bleeding.

"Max, you have to let me fix your wounds" He kept caressing her, trying to calm her down.

When she didn't seem to protest, he gently laid her on her back, opened her leather jacket and ripped her tank top apart.

The wounds weren't that deep but some of them still bled freely. He also suspected some broken ribs. Thanks to her transgenic healing, her body had taken care of the worst.

He took of his own shirt and ripped it into stripes. Max still sobbed softly.


End file.
